Politics and Giant Robots: Let's Play MechCommander 2!
#1
Posted 20 November 2011 - 11:46 AM
That's right, I've gotten my hands on MechCommander 2 for the first time and I want to play it!
While I am sorting out a few technical difficulties, the bare bones are in place and the first mission's been recorded.
What makes it a LP? Well, that's where you come in. You can sponsor a pilot and determine what upgrades he or she gets. You can even customize the 'Mechs for me if you wish. There's a decent FAQ out there for reference.
Currently I have a Starslayer, two Bushwackers and a Razorback.
There is quite the pilot selection available as well. I'll be taking Twitch in the Starslayer, Palerider in the Razorback, and Longshot in the Bushwacker on to Mission 2.
#2
Posted 20 November 2011 - 01:47 PM
It was a shame that MC2 didn't have as many fans as MC1 even though MC2 had a lot of good improvements.
If you grab some Steiner mechs. Make sure you put in one of my favorites, the Hollander with 2 PPCs and 2 armor. Or its alternate version with 2 ERPPCs and 2 heat sinks. Brings a lot of fire power for a small amount of tonnage. Plus you can bring more pilots at once, which gives a pilot more opportunities to gain the full campaign ribbon.
Edited by Miles Tails Prower, 20 November 2011 - 01:49 PM.
#3
Posted 20 November 2011 - 02:10 PM
#4
Posted 20 November 2011 - 02:15 PM
#5
Posted 20 November 2011 - 02:52 PM
Longshot does particularly well, and is promoted to Regular. I give her Medium Autocannon Specialization, as the Bushwacker she's piloting has one. (I'm cutting out the salvage/pilot results screens... Fraps does not like them.)
#6
Posted 20 November 2011 - 04:17 PM
I'll sponsor Twitch - he always was a crazy one. Wait, how do you have a Starslayer at the start?
Edited by Rohan Pony, 20 November 2011 - 04:17 PM.
#7
Posted 20 November 2011 - 04:47 PM
Rohan Pony, on 20 November 2011 - 04:17 PM, said:
I'll sponsor Twitch - he always was a crazy one. Wait, how do you have a Starslayer at the start?
You can capture a starslayer in very first mission. Although I've seen mods where people have started in Timberwolfs I remember this game getting quite easy once you got a lance of blood asps (steiner assault lance taken out in less than 10 seconds )
#8
Posted 20 November 2011 - 04:57 PM
Hacksaw in the biggest 'Mech I care to put in the mission, acting as my short-range combat specialist
Flash, generally in the smallest 'Mech but always with sensors - I very much look forward to getting the Cyclops. Obviously, she functions as my recon specialist, and a long-range specialist due to the rarity of her best 'Mechs and their general lack of armor compared to the other two
Longshot, usually in a 'Mech right in the middle of the other two's weights. She acts, appropriately enough, as my primary long-range specialist. She gets lots of LRMs, and often an Ultra Light AC as well.
If I have room for a 4th 'Mech, it's generally fairly small (just filling those last few tons) and being piloted by Meat, acting as a mid-range specialist. He has a strange tendency to end up in a Urbanmech - somehow that always fills my drop limit perfectly
#9
Posted 20 November 2011 - 09:30 PM
#10
Posted 21 November 2011 - 04:25 AM
If Twitch manages to level up, give him Medium 'Mech...he should be good in a Starslayer for quite a while.
Keep going! Good stuff. Brings back the memories...
#11
Posted 21 November 2011 - 04:41 AM
#12
Posted 21 November 2011 - 07:20 AM
Rohan Pony, on 21 November 2011 - 04:25 AM, said:
If Twitch manages to level up, give him Medium 'Mech...he should be good in a Starslayer for quite a while.
Keep going! Good stuff. Brings back the memories...
Oh yeah. Twitch is absolutely dominating in that Starslayer. I swapped out the lasers for the pulse lasers I just captured, and now that medium is a vicious brawler. Thinking of making a variant for a rookie that's just PPCs and SRMs. Mission 4's briefing and the birth of the Starslayer Mk2.
I have mission 4 recorded but the encoding will have to wait until tonight. Still working on technical issues -- the menu defaults to 800x600 resolution no matter what resolution you have the battles take place in, so I'm thinking of upsizing it gracefully to the 1280x720 that Youtube tells me it likes so much so I can squeeze it in with the regular footage. Failing that I'll just letterbox the menu parts so they'll fit in the higher resolution and carry on. All this on top of it being seemingly completely random whether or not Fraps can handle the gameplay to menu transition gracefully. I actually had some decent footage of the enormous pile of Fire Ant salvage mission 3 dropped on me.
#13
Posted 21 November 2011 - 05:59 PM
All those poor Fire Ants/Fleas. They're just there to die, really. They're not really good for anything in the game, especially since you already have better scout options.
One tip with the Long Tom Artillery - don't overestimate the ranges. They're more like mortars. And they track targets too slowly - most 'mechs are liable to move out of the way long before the artillery arrives. In fact, don't bother using Long Tom at all.
#14
Posted 21 November 2011 - 06:45 PM
The AI in MC2 was its weakness, the enemies are too predictable. You could turn up the difficulty to try and compensate but then the game just became unrealistic with head shots occuring too frequently.
#15
Posted 21 November 2011 - 07:06 PM
Rohan Pony, on 21 November 2011 - 05:59 PM, said:
All those poor Fire Ants/Fleas. They're just there to die, really. They're not really good for anything in the game, especially since you already have better scout options.
One tip with the Long Tom Artillery - don't overestimate the ranges. They're more like mortars. And they track targets too slowly - most 'mechs are liable to move out of the way long before the artillery arrives. In fact, don't bother using Long Tom at all.
Miles Tails Prower, on 21 November 2011 - 06:45 PM, said:
The AI in MC2 was its weakness, the enemies are too predictable. You could turn up the difficulty to try and compensate but then the game just became unrealistic with head shots occuring too frequently.
For the most part, I agree with you two - almost every mission, I only use repair vehicles and the salvage craft. And, yes, you are certainly capable of doing well with just those, your drop 'Mechs, and salvaged enemy 'Mechs.
However, especially on the higher difficulties, I found both the Minelayer and Long Tom artillery - the Minelayer in particular - to be extremely useful on the "base defense" missions.
#16
Posted 21 November 2011 - 07:43 PM
#17
Posted 21 November 2011 - 08:15 PM
#18
Posted 22 November 2011 - 07:40 AM
(Bit of trivia: All 'Mechs in the tabletop game have free searchlights. One of the best examples of searchlight use happens in one of the early Battletech novels, Mercenary's Star, where a Warhammer is featured using its mounted searchlight to deadly effect while night fighting in the streets of a major city.)
I think I've got the menu resolution switch worked out. It just takes a little finesse and an extra step during encoding.
As you can see, the Anubis is not too terribly bad during this mission, but the lights have a tendency to run in despite my orders to attack from long range, which means they took the damage the heavier mediums could have borne better. I have to micromanage the fragile things to the back just before the prison defenders can attack, which probably saved Palerider's bacon. I brought along Flash for this mission, and she picked up Laser Specialist when she got promoted to Regular.
Oh, and it looks like the Steiners are selling both the Highlander and the Zeus just in time for a night raid mission. Oh you guys.
Edited by Ghost, 22 November 2011 - 07:50 AM.
#19
Posted 22 November 2011 - 08:10 PM
#20
Posted 23 November 2011 - 05:41 AM
Captain Nice HD, on 22 November 2011 - 08:10 PM, said:
That's a good strategy. I'll keep it in mind. It's too late for my latest mission though. I just blew ~100k on buying a Shootist and turning it into a laser boat (2 ERLLs, 2 ERPPCs) for the base defense mission.
I was really just fooling around in this mission -- I could have just captured the turret and sensor controls, grabbed the resource building, and then pulled back to the forward bases to shorten the trip to the repair bay. Those Storm tanks really, really hurt.
Edited by Ghost, 23 November 2011 - 07:20 AM.
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